


pockets full of posies, we all fall down

by pawn_vs_player



Series: DefectTale [6]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Agender Chara, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amorality, Asgore makes bad life decisions, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Chara Has Issues, Chara and Frisk Share a Body, Dark Sans, Dubious Morality, Dysfunctional Relationships, Everyone Has Issues, Frisk is not innocent, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Mental Instability, Murder, Murder Trio, Nonbinary Frisk, POV Sans, POV Second Person, Psychopathology & Sociopathy, Sans Has Issues, Sans Remembers Resets, Sociopath Sans, Soulless Flowey, Unconventional Friendship, Undertale Genocide Route, Undertale Pacifist Route, Undertale Saves and Resets, Undertale Spoilers, Unhealthy Relationships, Unreliable Narrator, but Chara is worse, criminal lack of puns for a sans-centric fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-14 02:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7995508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pawn_vs_player/pseuds/pawn_vs_player
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time the kid kills someone and doesn't immediately reset, you're surprised.<br/>The second time, you're intrigued.<br/>The third time, you start planning.</p><p>((The Fallen Child is here, and the only thing on Sans' mind is himself.))</p>
            </blockquote>





	pockets full of posies, we all fall down

**Author's Note:**

> In which Frisk SPARES and then murders their friends multiple times, Sans' idea of a bad time is a boring time and he has rather more LV than in canon, Chara is a lil psychopath who just wants to have fun with knives, and Flowey kind of wants to get off this ride now, thanks.  
> Aka: when Flowey is the moral compass in the fic, you KNOW shit's gotten bad.

You've seen humans before. You've been around a long time, and you've been Judge since before Papyrus existed. 

Asgore and Undyne killed two each, orange and blue, aqua and green. The other two- purple and yellow- they fell during your lifetime. During your time as Judge.

You delivered their souls to Asgore calmly, blood splattered over your bones and smile steady on your face.

Humans are like monsters, they don't all look the same. The purple soul had glasses and long black hair, and they screamed when you killed them. The yellow soul had a hat and a gun, and they glared at you even after you took their soul.

This newest human has short brown hair and eyes that seem always closed. They are kind to everyone they meet.

They are killed in the Ruins while you and Flowey watch behind a pillar. Their soul shatters and drifts away into the wind.

You sigh. "damn waste-"

The world  _shreds_ around you, and you open your eyes at your 'dog stand. 

 

Flowey pops up in front of your 'dog stand. "...Sans? Did you..."

"what was that?" you ask.

Flowey glances down. "I... I used to do that, but... I can't, anymore."

"what was that?" you repeat.

"Resetting," he answers. "Turning back time to a certain point."

You stare.

"none of the others could do that," you point out.

Flowey shrugs his leaves. "None of the others were as determined."

"alright," you say. "oh hey, my break just started. wanna go  _stalk_ a human?"

Flowey sighs.

"Why do I put up with you, again?" he mutters before shooting underground.

 

The kid survives this time. They emerge from the Ruins with bruises on their face and a smile on their mouth, and they greet every monster they meet kindly.

The woman behind the door asks you to keep them safe.

You're not gonna stick your neck out for them, of course, but this is the most interesting thing to happen down here in a long time.

If there's anything you dislike more than pain, it's boredom. You're far worse at dealing with the latter.

 

The kid dies a lot. The world ripples and disappears in pieces, and they start again from a saved point, gold sparkling under their fingers for a split second after they roll back time.

Undyne kills them four times. The fifth time, they get to their feet afterward with a shaky smile and wet eyes. 

 

Flowey winds his leaves around your leg, pressing his face into your shin.

"I don't like it," he mutters. "They remind me of someone. Someone dangerous. Something isn't right here, Sans."

You roll your shoulders. "you sure it ain't us?"

"Very funny," Flowey snaps, but he does relax a little. 

 

You meet the kid in the Judgement Hall. Flowey lurks behind a column, out of their line of sight.

"you never gained LOVE, but you gained love, you know?"

For a split second, the space between syllables, you're almost envious.

 

The woman behind the door- Toriel- steps in before Asgore can kill the kid. You're there, and Papyrus, and Undyne and Alphys. Something feels off to you, but you can't put a fingerbone on it. This seems too easy- the kid doesn't have to die to break the barrier? Then why did you have to kill the yellow and purple souls? Why kill the other six only to spare the seventh? What is Asgore thinking?

The ground rumbles. 

"Sorry, partner," you hear quietly from behind you, and then the ground explodes.

 

Flowey takes the six human souls. You are utterly stiff in his grasp; one brush against the wrong thorn, and you're dust. He does seem to be gripping you a little gentler than the others; you can see bruises forming on Undyne, see the pain in Toriel's eyes, see Papyrus' bones creaking in protest at the rough treatment, but you feel fine. Uncomfortable and a little betrayed, but you aren't in pain.

The kid spares Flowey again and again, no matter the damage they take. Flowey gets in a lucky hit: the red soul bursts on impact, and the world reshapes into twenty minutes earlier.

Flowey is  _damn_ powerful with the six souls, even if the human is too fast and too good at dodging to die often. Although, with six human souls, any monster would be.

(You wonder, absently, what you'd be capable of with six extra human souls. Would you be able to feel? What would you feel?)

The more the kid rewinds time, the more intrigued you become. You hadn't talked to the kid that much. You're reconsidering that. Maybe, if they survive Flowey's attacks and break the barrier, you can get to know more about them. You think it'll be worth the effort. Anyone this determined to not hurt anyone has a story worth hearing.

 

Your soul is tugged away from you. The world goes white.

 

The world comes back, and the kid takes the souls from Flowey. You drop as he shrinks back down into his small flower form.

You hear Alphys' little horrified squeak when she sees his lesser form. You resolve to get to the bottom of that later.

"Why are you being so... so nice to me?!" Flowey demands.

The kid reaches for him. 

"I just... I can't understand!" he wails, and disappears underground.

Perhaps the souls had let him feel again. You wonder if he'll tell you what it was like.

 

The sun is warm on your face. Papyrus is holding your hand, and everyone is smiling. 

The kid glances behind them, to the entrance to the Underground. You sidle over to them.

"what's up, kiddo?"

They shake their head sadly. Their voice is raspy and almost inaudible. "I... I can't leave him there."

You blink at them. "kid?"

"There has to be a way to save everyone," they whisper insistently. Their eyes are watery. "There has to be."

The world shreds around you.

 

Flowey pops up in front of your 'dog stand.

"they want to save you," you tell him. "they don't want to leave you behind."

Flowey laughs, sharp and bitter.

"Optimistic idiot."

 

"why did alphys act like that when she saw you?" you ask him, waiting for the kid to arrive. They're spending more time in the Ruins this run.

Flowey shuffles his leaves. "I... She made me. I died, and she... I don't know exactly, but she brought back my consciousness in a flower, but without a soul."

"you mean...  _sans_ soul?"

He slaps you with a leaf. "I won't be so nice with the souls this time," he warns.

You raise your hands. "duly noted, bud."

He sighs.

 

The kid looks at you funny when you take them to Grillby's. "what?" you ask. "got ketchup on my skull?"

They fiddle with their hands, tug at one of their sleeves. They grab a napkin and pull a pen out of their sweater.

_d o y o u r e m e m b e r ?_

You look at them. "remember what?"

They smile, add a word to the bottom.  _n o t h i n g._

 

 

The kid resets.

The kid resets.

The kid resets.

The kid resets.

The kid resets.

 

The kid tugs on your sleeve. "Sans," they whisper. "Sans."

"what's up, kiddo?"

You're standing on Mt Ebott, and the sun is warm and golden, and you're waiting for the kid to reset.

"I want to go back," they say. "I want to SAVE him."

"don't think you can," you admit. 

Their mouth flattens. "I can," they insist.

*They are full of determination.

Your soul stutters. Determination is powerful stuff, dangerous stuff. "kid-"

"He deserves another chance," they say, glancing back at the sun. "I can't leave him there."

Their fists clench. 

"It's not over until everyone is saved," they say.

The sentence rings in your skull as the world tears away and reforms into Snowdin yet again.

 

The kid resets.

The kid resets.

The kid resets.

 

"give up," you sigh to them over dinner at Grillby's. "you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved."

They scribble on a napkin.  _i k n e w y o u r e m e m b e r e d._

"seriously, kiddo," you insist. "quit. you can't save him. all you can do is hit him with some determination-fueled weedkiller."

They glare at you.

_i c a n s a v e e v e r y o n e._

You sigh. Oh, to be young and innocent and bullheaded.

 

"they're doing this for you," you inform Flowey, leaning over your 'dog stand. "tell them to knock it off. i wanna see the surface."

Flowey glances down. "I... it feels nice," he admits. "Having someone care that much."

You look away.

 

"kid..."

_s h u t u p, s a n s._

 

Toriel doesn't arrive in time. Flowey kills Asgore, and the kid resets.

 

_s a n s._

"yeah, kiddo?"

_t h i s i s n ' t w o r k i n g._

"toldja it wouldn't."

_i ' m g o i n g t o t r y s o m e t h i n g e l s e._

The kid resets.

 

You're waiting outside the Ruins, and you hear a scream.

Toriel.

You take a shortcut, and there's the kid, horror on their face and a knife in their hand, and Toriel's crumbling away into dust at their feet.

The kid looks up, at you, and there's tears in their eyes and a scream trapped in their mouth, and they're resetting before you can open your mouth.

 

The kid resets. Toriel dies.

The kid resets. Froggits die. Toriel dies.

The kid resets. Whimsuns die. Toriel dies.

The kid resets. Moldsmols die. Toriel dies.

The kid resets, makes it out of the Ruins with dust drifting off their clothes. They see you, arms folded and leaning against a tree. Their eyes widen. 

The kid resets.

 

"something's wrong," you say. "they're killing now. toriel's died... what, six times? but they're resetting. and killing anyway. what's happening?"

Flowey frowns, twining a leaf around your shin. "I don't know," he says, but the tone of his voice tells you he has an idea.

 

The kid resets, and leaves the Ruins with a strange smile on their face. You're standing in the shadows behind a tree, watching them.

You slip into the Ruins once they're gone and stop short.

The entire floor is coated with dust.

You wander farther. Dust, and dust, and dust. Not a single living thing to be found.

You emerge into Flowey's spot, under the sun. There's a dent in the golden flowerbed, and you can't see Flowey.

"flowey?" you call. You think if you were anyone else, you might be horrified or worried. "flowey, bud, where are you?"

"Sans?"

Flowey's hiding behind a pillar. His eyes are wide. He looks shaken.

"They... they just... they killed  _everyone,_ Sans." He's actually trembling a little. "I... they..."

He slips under the dirt and pops up by your foot. He leans against you. 

"They killed my mother again," he whispers. "And they laughed."

 

The kid isn't resetting.

 

They work their way through the Underground, methodically murdering every single monster they come across. They lose to Undyne several times, but they come back laughing the fourth, slashing new lines into her face. They duck low, cut her legs out from under her; when she falls, crying out, they yank her eyepatch away and stab into her skull. She bursts into dust.

Monster Kid screams. The kid stands, grinning, and walks toward him.

Their eyes glitter scarlet.

 

*Papyrus blocks their way. He stands with arms spread, smile trembling on his face. *Papyrus spares them.

The kid stands, shaking. They are still for a long time.

The knife thuds into the snow.

*They spare Papyrus.

Their eyes are thin brown slits in their face.

 

The kid resets.

 

You stay in the Ruins with Flowey this time.

Flowey, who used to be Asriel.

"I miss having a soul," he whispers, staring up at the sun. "I miss the surface."

He looks at you. "Sans... what'll happen if they break the barrier but everyone else is dead?"

You shrug.

"we cross our souls and hope for a reset."

 

"I miss Chara," Flowey tells you. Both of you are in the Judgement Hall, waiting for the kid to finish up and arrive. "I miss my sibling."

You think of Papyrus. You think of the kid's knife slicing his skull cleanly off his spine, of how it plopped into the snow. The noises he made when he watched his body dust away. The look on his face, that stayed right until he dusted entirely, when the kid put their boot into his eye and pressed down.

You don't say anything.

 

The kid faces you in Snowdin. Papyrus' dust is in the snow, the air, on the scarf around their neck. Their eyes are wide in their face, and entirely scarlet.

"hey, kiddo," you say, stuffing your hands into your pockets. "i don't usually do this, but... would you mind answering a question for me?"

They laugh.

"--Go ahead.--"

You stiffen. That's not the kid's voice.

"do you know a kid named chara?"

The kid blinks.

The kid resets.

 

"what color were chara's eyes?" you ask Flowey.

He blinks at you. "Red. They said it was unusual, a- a genetic quirk. Why?"

You shake your head. "i don't think they're as gone as you think."

 

Papyrus' dust scatters across the snow.

*You block the way.

"hey, kid," you say, hands in your pockets. "what did the skeleton say to the ghost?"

They are silent.

"there's no- _body_ here."

Your grin tilts up a little.

"well, kiddo... i think there's one more person than there should be around here."

The kid tenses. Their grip tightens around their knife.

You shrug.

"but, hey. none of my business. i'm not one to go poking my nose into other people's business- 'specially since i don't have a nose, heh."

You turn around.

"see ya later, chara," you say on a hunch.

 

You shortcut back to your house. You throw out the plates of frozen spaghetti in the fridge. You take the bedtime stories mother taught you to read to Papyrus to the Dump and leave them there. You head to Grillby's and spend all your gold on ketchup. You get the gold from Papyrus' room, too, and settle your tab. 

You walk from Grillby's to your house. Papyrus's scarf is a bloody gash across the unblemished snow.

You pick it up and take it back to the house with you. You put it on the ground in the backyard and summon a blaster. It disintegrates... beautifully, is the only word you have. Red particles scattering apart and bursting into light, then nothing. The blue of the blaster rays reflects off the white ground.

Flowey would yell at you if he were here. Even soulless, he can't let go of Asriel. 

You have no time for it. If the kid resets, then nothing will have changed. Your actions today won't matter. But if the kid doesn't- and there's always a chance they won't, that this timeline is the one you remain in forever- well.

You aren't the kid. The only way you move is forward, and Papyrus no longer plays a role in this future.

 

The kid is reaching Hotland, so you and Flowey are in New Home. Flowey curls around a pillar in the empty Judgement Hall and you go to speak with Asgore.

"you ever meet a talking flower?"

"Of course," Asgore says, surprised. "Echo flowers."

You laugh. 

 

"did it ever occur to you that some ghosts neither become corporeal or visible?"

"I did not know they had a choice."

Your smile turns up on one corner.

"they're not all the same, y'know. monster ghosts aren't like human ghosts."

Asgore's paw clenches tight around the handle of his watering can. "Excuse me?"

You laugh again. 

"that kid murdering all your people? that's not the kid that fell down the rabbit hole. that's the kid who chose you over themself and their people. that's the kid you couldn't save."

The handle of Asgore's watering can cracks. "Sans-"

You laugh, strolling out of the garden, hands in your pockets and left eye trailing blue. "oh, don't worry about it, asgore. i doubt you'll remember this anyway."

You close the door behind you, seal it with your blue magic. He doesn't try to follow you.

"What did you tell him?" Flowey asks, peering down at you. You shake your head.

"it's not important."

 

The kid stands in front of you at your 'dog stand in Hotland. You smile.

"hey, kiddo," you say. "the king's gotten a bit  _heated._ i think you murdering his wife and subjects really  _got his goat._ "

The kid snorts a little. Interesting. 

"so, i gotta ask," you say, leaning forward against your stand. "and don't reset when i do, 'kay? that's a lotta work to just flush down the drain."

The kid shuffles their feet. Their red eyes are narrowed.

"flowey says he knew a human named chara. the first one, actually. said that when he was asriel, still had a soul and all that crap, that they were siblings. well, we all know how that story ended." You cock your head at them. "but i'm starting to think the history books got it wrong, huh? so, i'm asking... how'd you do it, kiddo?"

They look at you, silent, for a long time. Their knife glints in the firelight of Hotland.

"--I was d e t e r m i n e d.--"

You nod.

"i figured you'd say that."

You get up, walk around the side of your 'dog stand. 

"welp. i'm off to do the job i'm actually officially sanctioned to do. don't _burn_ yourself out, alright? you still got quite the walk ahead of you."

 

You pull Flowey off the column, not bothering to be gentle. 

"Hey!"

"shut it," you say. Your ribs feel odd, like there's something hot and sharp rammed up inside them. You need to ask Asgore that last question, the only one  _you_ care about getting answered. "hide. the kid won't hesitate when it comes to you, and they're getting close."

Flowey gulps. He pops down into the earth. 

You stride forward, into Asgore's garden. He stiffens when he hears you. "...Sans. What is it?"

"you lied to me."

He turns, brows creasing. "What do you-"

"you said only dead human souls would work. you said it was for the good of all monsterkind. you said i  _had to._ "

Asgore's eyes are dark. "Sans, I warn you-"

You laugh. "what, you threatenin' me now? that won't work out for you, king fluffybuns."

"How dare you-"

"not like we're gonna live long enough to hash this out, anyway," you shrug. Your eye sparks blue. "i just wanted to ask why, y'know? why lie?"

You wait, patiently and all that. Asgore is silent, turned away.

Good. You'd hoped he wouldn't try to defend himself.

"you're so damn selfish, you know that? you're the damn  _king._ that means you have to do what's best for your people. killing children is what's best? really? how do you live with yourself? you're immortal unless someone knocks your health down! you can wait out the lives of innocent humans for their souls! was your own anger, your own grief, so damn important that it meant innocent children had to be murdered? that i had to be lied to and manipulated into murdering them?"

You laugh, suddenly, sharply.

"really, i don't even care that you made me murder innocent kids," you admit. "they'd have died eventually anyway." You stuff your hands in your pockets. "but i don't forgive liars. i don't care that some humans killed your son, you had a duty. how d'you think the humans would react up there, if they knew about the blood on your trident? on undyne's spears? on my bones?" 

Asgore shudders, just once. 

"you've been a terrible king," you conclude calmly. "and you deserve whatever that kid does to you." You glance at the barrier, the sparkle of sunlight outside. You smirk.

You walk back into the Judgement Hall whistling.

 

The fallen child glimmers in the fading sunlight of the Judgement Hall, brown hair and scarlet eyes lit with gold. It's just you and them, now.

They tilt their head at you. "--What are you waiting for?--"

"whaddaya think i'm waiting to do?"

"--Fight me, of course,--" they say, confusion drifting under their voice. "--I killed your friends, your brother. Every single monster I could find. And you're the Judge, aren't you? Don't you have a job to fulfill?--"

You snort.

"look, kid. frisk, chara. whatever. i don't care that you killed all those people."

They blink at you. 

"really, i think it's a good thing. all those pacifist runs were getting  _boring._ it was barely worth the effort to get up and say my lines. but now? now the script's all torn up around your feet. i don't know if you're going to reset after this, like you've been doing, but even if you do, this was still  _interesting._ i won't forget. and i'll be waiting for you to be interesting again, in every timeline you attempt after this."

The fallen child's eyes sparkle with d e t e r m i n a t i o n.

"heh. i'm not here to fight, kid. i'm here to watch the show."

Your smile widens slightly.

"as for being the judge... i judge you as being good to go. someone ought to give that old goat what he deserves."

You step to the side, baring the doors. You wave them forward.

They walk by cautiously, watching you for an attack. Your left eye glows blue, but just so they can't kill you right when the climax is coming. You don't want to miss the final act here.

"have fun, chara," you say.

They smile brightly at you as the door swings shut behind them.

 

That's the thing that Flowey will never understand, right there. He might not have a soul now, but he did once, and he misses it. He wants Asriel back. He wants to be happy and content and safe and normal again. He wants his family. He's bored with his new life; he wants his old one.

You aren't. You don't miss Papyrus; he never changed. Always sunny, always bright, always optimistic, enthusiastic, loud, naive, sweet, kind. He offered no entertainment other than his reactions to your puns, and even those never changed. He was  _boring._

Undyne, too. Almost everyone. Alphys surprised you every once in a while, and Toriel, but they were mostly static as well. Flowey doesn't change much either, honestly, but he actually understands you, and that's something precious in this world ruled by emotions and souls.

But the kid?

Well. Frisk hadn't been boring the first time. But after a few peaceful runs, they got really boring. You hadn't lied to Chara about that.

But then- you don't know why, what changed, maybe it was Chara and maybe it wasn't- but they started killing. Their 'mother', innocent Whimsuns and Froggits and Moldsmols, just- dust. Out of nowhere. And they were new and interesting again. 

And Chara? Oh, Chara's even more fun, because you haven't known them as them nearly as long as you have Frisk. They're something new and intriguing, something  _fresh_ in a stale, unchanging loop, and oh, you can't wait to see how this ends.

You hope they don't reset right away, or if they do, that they come back and do this again. All in all, you hope for change, because change is entertainment, and you can't stand being bored.

 

You listen to Asgore die. The sound of his dust hitting the ground is immensely satisfying.

The fallen child opens the door to you. Flowey is held in their fist, their knife under his petals. He's looking at you with Asriel's face, green eyes full of tears. "S-Sans..."

"--What do you think I should do with him, comedian?--" Chara asks.

You look at Flowey. He's been with you through a lot, and he's trusted you with a lot- a dumb decision, but one you should probably honor. Besides...

"he could be helpful," you point out. "'specially if you want to break the barrier."

Flowey smiles shakily at you. Chara giggles.

"--I agree,--" they say. They leave the door open for you as they skip back over to the soul containers. They don't let go of Flowey, merely smiling at him and miming kicking the containers open. "--Ready, Asriel?--"

Flowey makes a soft noise that might be assent or protest. Chara doesn't care. Neither do you. 

They smash the yellow soul container with their boot. Flowey opens his mouth and sucks it in.

You remember a child's angry eyes, a wide-brimmed hat.

Chara shatters the purple one. You hear screams, remember the glow of your blaster reflected, just for an instant, in cracked lenses.

Green, and Undyne's spears flash in the corners of your vision. Blue, and Asgore's staring you down as you tell him that your soul doesn't work right. Aqua, and he's giving you a job and a hefty paycheck. Orange, and a child is dangling from the tines of his trident, red spattered across the flowers in his garden.

Flowey expands with a roar out of Chara's hands. They are unfazed, grabbing onto him and riding up with him: when he is fully transformed, they clamber up onto his 'shoulder'. They grin down at you. 

"--What, nothing? I thought you loved running your mouth!--"

You shrug. "do somethin' impressive, and i'll 'ooh' and 'ahh' for ya all you want."

Even from this distance, you see Chara's eyes spark with determination. "--Go on then, Asriel!" they yell. 

Flowey takes two steps forward. Chara hops down, landing on one of his 'hands' and running straight at the barrier, knife first. "--Now!--"

The souls slam into the barrier right as Chara makes contact. It sparkles- splinters- shudders-  _shatters._

Chara grins at you, washed in dying sunlight. "--Impressive enough for you now, smiley trashbag?--"

"ooh. ahh." You aim your perpetual grin in their direction. "and, uh, i think the weed's the only one allowed to call me that."

Chara shrugs, flipping their knife up into the air. They catch it, then crouch down to haul Flowey up out of the ground. "--I suppose I'll have to get creative then, eh,  _partner?_ \--"

Your grin widens enough to make your skull feel like it's cracking. "hell yeah."

You look down the mountain. Chara is at your side, knife in the pocket farthest away from you. Flowey is in a handful of dirt cupped between Chara's palms, looking worried.

"well," you hum, putting your hands in your pockets. "we're gonna need a flowerpot."

Flowey's protest is ignored by both you and Chara. "--Good idea.--"

"but to get that..." you start, and let your eyes drift over to the tall silhouettes in the distance. "well, kiddo, how do you feel about a bit of _unnatural_ selection?"

Chara giggles. "--Best thing you've said today, partner.--"

The sunset is warm on your face. Chara is warm and steady at your side. Flowey is quiet and familiar in their hands. 

Your magic gathers in your soul and your eye. You can find a flowerpot once you get into town. But first...

There's some humans down there about to have a r e a l l y b a d t i m e.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed, hit kudos and leave a comment; every bit of feedback I get just encourages me to write more!


End file.
